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Venom (Klyntar) (Earth-616)
The Spider's Black Spirit | Identity = Known to Authorities | Affiliation = Guardians of the Galaxy, Klyntar hive mind, Agents of the Cosmos; Formerly A.I.M., Avengers, CIA, Cosmic Champions, Cosmic Strangers, Dark Avengers, Landau, Luckman, and Lake, Legion of the Skull, S.H.I.E.L.D., Secret Avengers, Sinister Six, Team Venom, 50-State Initiative , Thunderbolts | Relatives = Lee Price (current host), Flash Thompson (former host), Mercurio (former host), Drax the Destroyer (former host), Rocket Raccoon (former host), Groot (former host), Unnamed Skrull (former host), "Peter Parker"/Otto Octavius (Spider-Man) (former host), Thaddeus Ross (former host), Samson (former host), Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel) (former host), Mac Gargan (former host), Angelo Fortunato (former host, deceased) Anne Weying (former host, deceased), Eddie Brock (former host) Peter Parker (Spider-Man) (former host) Wade Wilson (Deadpool) (former host), Unnamed Alien (original host), Anti-Venom (twin brother, deceased), Carnage (daughter), Hybrid (son, defused), Scream (daughter, deceased), Phage (son), Riot (son), Lasher (daughter), Agony (son), Toxin (grandson), Scorn (granddaughter), Raze (granddaughter) Mania (clone) | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = New York City, New York; formerly mobile; Lighthouse, Project Rebirth 2.0 Facility, Washington, D.C. | Gender = Agender | Gender2 = | Height = Variable | Weight = Variable | Eyes = Variable | Hair = No Hair | UnusualFeatures = As Venom, the Symbiote can grant its host an elongated jaw, fangs, claws, tentacles and prehensile tongue which are really part of its body. | Citizenship = Klyntar | MaritalStatus = Single | Occupation = Vigilante, Agent of the Cosmos; formerly Upgrade to Super-Soldiers, Mad killer-alien bent on revenge | Education = Genetic memory, gains new knowledge from previous hosts | Origin = Klyntar; as part of the Secret Wars on Battleworld, Spider-Man came into possession of a black costume when his red-and-blue costume was damaged in battle. It would later be revealed that this black costume was in fact a symbiote. | PlaceOfBirth = Planet of the Symbiotes | Creators = Randy Schueller; Jim Shooter; Mike Zeck | First = Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 252 | First2 = | HistoryText = In the distant past, the 998th generation of a lineage of symbiotes was born on the planet Klyntar, hatched from a clutch of eggs in a cavern. Its first host, an inhabitant of an icy world, proved to be evil and used the symbiote to carry out a genocide against his homeworld, twisting it into a predatory and hate-filled being addicted to rage. Despite this, rather than dominate its hosts, the Klyntar desired to bond with and protect them. As a result, it was imprisoned by its brethren, who considered it an aberration and feared it would contaminate the gene pool. This prison was later inadvertently incorporated into the makeup of Battleworld by the Beyonder. Hosts Deadpool The symbiote's first human host was Deadpool, who came across its prison while on Battleworld after damaging his costume and wore the creature for a few minutes before realizing it was alive and interfacing with his mind. Concerned that his insanity would adversely affect it, Deadpool returned it to its prison just before Spider-Man - who had also damaged his costume in combat and been directed to the facility - entered the room. After being abandoned by Spider-Man but before its encounter with Eddie Brock, the symbiote sought out and bonded to Deadpool again when it was attacked by Killer Thrill, Guzz, and Coldwar, a trio of alien bounty hunters hired by the Collector to apprehend it. The symbiote passed its positive emotions towards Spider-Man and desire to do good onto Deadpool, then subsequently took umbrage with his admiration of its former host, at one point refusing to shoot webbing when he was swinging between buildings, and vehemently arguing with him when he was in the middle of a fight with Kraven the Hunter. When Killer Thrill captured and tortured Spider-Man, the symbiote seized control of Deadpool, intervened, and ate her left arm. When it then tried to eat Spider-Man, Deadpool stopped it, and it returned to Our Lady of Saints Church just in time to encounter its next host. Spider-Man Spider-Man found the prison module the symbiote had been trapped in and activated the machine, which released the symbiote in the form of a black sphere. When Spider-Man touched the sphere, it covered his body and, reacting to Spider-Man's thoughts about the costume worn by the second Spider-Woman, formed a new black and white costume. To Spider-Man's surprise, the costume could mimic street clothes and provided a seemingly inexhaustible and stronger supply of webbing. Once back on Earth, Spider-Man learned the costume was a sentient alien symbiote that wished to permanently bond with him and often controlled his body while he slept. With the aid of Mr. Fantastic and the Human Torch, Spider-Man discovered the symbiote was vulnerable to sound and flame, and he used sonic waves to remove it and flames to scare it into a containment module. The symbiote escaped and found its way to Peter Parker's closet, where it disguised itself as a spare red and blue costume. When the Vulturions attacked, the symbiote revealed itself and attempted to forcibly bond itself to Spider-Man, who fled to the bell tower of the Our Lady of Saints Church. The bells rang to sound the hour, which, coupled with Spider-Man's rejection of it, weakened the alien and forced it to relinquish its hold on him. The symbiote, using its remaining strength, dragged Peter to safety before, though his rejection left it extremely bitter toward him, a trait it would share with most of its future hosts. Black Cat thought the black costume was sexier and made Spider-Man a cloth version of the suit. Spider-Man switched back and forth between the two suits for some time until Venom came looking for him. By this time, Spider-Man had married Mary Jane Watson, and Venom scared her horribly. She asked Spider-Man to stop wearing the black costume, and he returned to his original costume. Sometime after Flash Thompson, the fourth host of the symbiote, returned to Earth to aid Carol Danvers against Tony Stark in the second Civil War, a spider-bot detected the presence of Flash and the symbiote, tracking them to Philadelphia. Believing the symbiote to be evil and that it had taken over his friend, Peter — as Spider-Man — ambushed Venom using anti-symbiote technology developed at Parker Industries. Despite both Flash and the symbiote protesting that they didn't want to fight, Spider-Man separated the symbiote from Flash, preparing to imprison it in his lab. Enraged, the Venom symbiote used its ability to take on humanoid form without a host to catch Peter by surprise and easily overwhelmed him. Trying to lead it away from civilians, Spider-Man quipped that they were old friends due to him being a former host, which to his surprise the symbiote didn't remember. The symbiote prevented Spider-Man from fleeing and bonded to him, but instead of taking over him it showed him memories of its birth and first host, explaining its origins and that the cleanse had purged it of all its memories except those of its original host — who had corrupted it and left it with an addiction to rage — and Flash Thompson. The symbiote noted that Peter was teeming with rage towards it, and sincerely apologized for everything it had done to him, stating that it was no longer the Venom he knew and hated. The symbiote released Spider-Man and returned to Flash, who explained that he and the symbiote had returned to Earth to find Mania, Venom's corrupted clone and its protégé. Accepting that the symbiote had changed for the better, Spider-Man volunteered to help Venom find Mania, and assisted in capturing her before returning to New York. Eddie Brock Eddie Brock was a reporter who was fired after Spider-Man debunked his story exposing the identity of the Sin-Eater, humiliating him and ruining his career to the point where he could only find work with cheap gossip magazines. Shortly before this, Brock had found out he had terminal adrenal cancer, and his writing was one of the only things that kept it off his mind. Contemplating suicide after being disowned by his father and divorced by his wife, Eddie entered Our Lady of Saint's Church to pray for forgiveness. Attracted by his fixation on Spider-Man and adrenaline-producing cancer, the symbiote bonded with Eddie and kept him alive. However, Eddie's hatred for Peter further twisted the symbiote's own feelings towards its former host into a fixation with either reclaiming or killing him. Seeking revenge for his humiliation, realizing that the symbiote viewed Spider-Man as its ideal host and fearing that Spider-Man would accept the symbiote back, thus condemning him to death, Eddie sought to kill the webslinger. When bonded, Venom spoke using the first person plural (we), signifying that Brock and the symbiote were two separate entities joined together - although, on occasion, Eddie referred to it as "My Other and I". They fought Spider-Man many times, and came close to winning on several occasions. As well as fueling Eddie's rage against Spider-Man, the symbiote allowed him to indulge in a sporadic career as a vigilante. After switching back and forth several times between either helping Spider-Man or fighting against him, Eddie became increasingly ill-at-ease with the symbiote's growing bloodlust. Following a Christian reawakening, Eddie sold the symbiote to Don Fortunato after he discovered his cancer had returned. Eddie would have a hand in determining Aunt May's fate who was in the same hospital as him after being shot by a sniper hired by Wilson Fisk. It was an action that would "damn him forever or redeem him". He was in the hospital, suffering from hallucinations of the symbiote representing his dark side. After a long time of this figment of his imagination taking away his sanity, he spotted Aunt May and Mary Jane and had no idea what to do, but his dark side then persuaded him to order a black suit similar to Peter's and put it on, apparently making his decision that may forever damn him. Although Eddie eventually resisted his other's urging to murder the helpless May Parker, it was implied that Eddie still sought to reunite with the symbiote, stating that 'I'm the one in charge.' For a short time during the Spider-Island event, Eddie and the symbiote merged again, but by this point Eddie hated the symbiote, and he was physically terrified at the prospect of being re-bonded to it, even shedding tears as it covered him. While the symbiote was jubilant to return to its former host, Flash was able to convince it to return to him by telling it that Eddie would constantly fight its control. Anne Weying The Venom symbiote joined with Eddie's ex-wife on two occasions. The first bonding occurred when Anne was seriously wounded after being shot by the second Sin-Eater. With her condition rapidly deteriorating, the symbiote bonded with Anne on Eddie's insistence in order to save her. Under the influence of the symbiote, Anne impulsively murdered a pair of thugs, an act she instantly regretted. The second time she bonded with the symbiote occurred in police custody. Used as bait to lure her ex-husband, Anne was once again joined with the symbiote after Eddie transferred his other through a telephone line, allowing her to escape. These instances proved traumatic for Anne, causing her to commit suicide later on. Angelo Fortunato Angelo Fortunato, the Don's son, became the second Venom for a brief period of time. Angelo was able to master the symbiote's powers after only a brief time spent bonded to it. However, the symbiote deemed him an unworthy host when he fled a battle with Spider-Man after being humiliated. The symbiote abandoned Angelo while he was jumping between buildings and the subsequent fall killed him. Mac Gargan The Venom symbiote approached MacDonald "Mac" Gargan, who was considered a low-level villain, offering him new abilities. Gargan bonded with the creature, which would later give him an extra edge as part of Norman Osborn's Sinister Twelve. Even with these additional powers, he was still swiftly defeated by Spider-Man, as the Avengers dealt with the rest of the Twelve. Gargan later became a member of a sub-group of the Thunderbolts, which was drafted by the Avengers to hunt down the members of the fugitive Secret Avengers. It was then revealed that he had been outfitted with electrical implants by the government to keep the symbiote in check. Over time, Gargan's control over the symbiote declined, leading to him devouring Oliver Osnick's arm. Following this, Gargan expressed nausea and fear of the organism, but after being vehemently berated by a hallucination of the alien caused by the third Bluestreak, he rapidly embraced the creature's bloodlust and came to gluttonously enjoy eating other humans, Skrulls, Atlanteans, Kree, and squirrels. After the events of Siege, the U.S. Military has removed the Symbiote from Gargan. Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel) While trying to help Spider-Man defeat Venom outside of Siege during Siege, Carol successfully pulled Mac Gargan out of the symbiote. At that point, the symbiote gravitated toward her, and she became the host. With the help of Spider-Man, she was able to eventually pull it off of herself when she flew into some powerlines and expelled all the energy she had absorbed from them. Flash Thompson After the Symbiote was removed from Mac Gargan, the US military established Project Rebirth, an attempt to weaponize it as a suit of body armor. After a series of unsuccessful trials, the symbiote was assigned to Eugene "Flash" Thompson. With it Flash regained his legs (only while in contact with the creature) and gained spider-powers. Thompson had a different link to the symbiote than previous hosts, using drugs to keep it from going on an out-of-control feeding frenzy and making the symbiote come back to him because he "needs it". Scientist researchers found out that there are 48 window hours after the first contact with the symbiote until it totally bonds to its host, and as a result Flash was only allowed to wear it for the duration of missions. Venom battled the Crime-Master, and destroyed a illegal shipment of Vibranium. In retribution for this, the villain kidnapped Betty Brant, but gave the location to Thompson only if he swore not to bother him any more. The Crime-Master later sent Jack O'Lantern to threaten Flash into carrying out missions for him to protect his family, the first of which was to steal the Toxin symbiote from Blackheart. To protect his family, Flash went AWOL and fully bonded to the Venom symbiote, helping Red Hulk - who had been sent to retrieve him and the symbiote, Laura Kinney, and Ghost Rider stop Blackheart from unleashing Hell on Earth. During Spider-Island, Venom battled the Spider-Queen and infiltrated its hive dressed as her guard, Spider-King. Along with Steve Rogers, Thompson killed the Spider-Queen, but she mutated into a giant spider, which was later killed by Kaine. When bonded to Flash, the symbiote initially took on the appearance of body armor, later manifesting chitinous spikes and a more exoskeletal appearance. As a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, the symbiote lost all semblance of body armor while maintaining an exoskeletal appearance and manifesting a jagged mouth. When out of control, it took on an insectoid appearance. After being purged of its bloodlust by its benevolent ancestors, the symbiote took on the appearance of body armor once more, with a face markedly resembling that of the Destroyer, though it can still manifest its signature fangs and tongue. Since being cleansed, the symbiote has developed the ability to take on humanoid form independently of its host for short periods of time, and retains this ability even after being corrupted again. Samson Also during the events of Spider-Island, the Symbiote temporarily bonded with Samson, a German Shepherd belonging to General Brad Dodge, at the Project Rebirth headquarters. Red Hulk During the Circle of Four, Flash gave Red Hulk the symbiote. Also, Red Hulk was bonded with the Spirit of Vengeance, becoming both Venom and Ghost Rider, a being of immense power (but this brings up the question why the symbiote didn't come off). After the events of Circle of Four, Red Hulk returned the symbiote to Flash Thompson. Gorilla After being separated from Flash during the Avengers' raid on Doverton, Colorado, the symbiote took over a silverback gorilla that had escaped from a zoo and used it to escape from a horde of other animals being controlled by the Carnage symbiote. It later left the gorilla and returned to Flash. Otto Octavius/"Peter Parker" When Flash returned to New York to investigate rumors that the Crime-Master had returned from the dead, he was attacked by the Superior Spider-Man and his Spiderlings. With the symbiote wounded, Agent Venom revealed his identity to Spider-Man in the hopes that he would be shown mercy, and escaped when Spider-Man tried to kill him. Flash sought shelter with his friend Peter Parker, not knowing that he was Spider-Man and had been overtaken by his enemy Otto Octavius. "Peter" convinced Flash to undergo surgery to install high-tech prosthetics and used the opportunity to extract the Venom symbiote, intending on containing it in his lab. The symbiote, having grown more powerful in the years since Spider-Man had been its host, broke free and sought to return to its former host. Sensing something was different about its old host that it disliked, the symbiote tried to return to Flash, but Otto forced it to remain bonded to him, revelling in its power. As the "Superior Venom", Otto became even more vicious and aggressive under the symbiote's influence, using extreme violence against even minor infractions and lashing out at Aunt May when she was insensitive towards Anna Maria Marconi's height. Mary Jane, thinking Peter had been overtaken by the symbiote, contacted the Avengers, who engaged Venom in a fight just as he was about to kill some of Hobgoblin's gang members. With the symbiote's power, Otto was able to fight evenly with them, but he realized too late that the symbiote had been undermining his will and was taken over by it. When Flash arrived in Iron Man's armor and tried to convince it to return to him, Venom lashed out in rage at having been controlled by drugs. Unable to suppress it or expel it, Otto gave in to despair but was saved by the remnants of Peter Parker's psyche, who expelled the symbiote. The symbiote returned to Flash, and later informed him something was wrong with Spider-Man. Groot After being separated from Flash by Peter Quill and Rocket Raccoon, the symbiote escaped containment and took over the nearby Groot. Rocket Raccoon After being separated from Groot by Drax, the symbiote takes over Rocket. While in control of Rocket, it transformed his arms into multi-barrelled biomechanical guns. Drax the Destroyer When Drax grabs ahold of Rocket, the symbiote immediately transfers over to him. The symbiote separated from Drax of its own accord to return to its homeworld, and later rebonded to Flash after being cleansed of its hatred and bloodlust. Mercurio After being separated from Flash by Gramosian space pirates, the symbiote bonded to their leader, Mercurio. This was later revealed to be a ploy on Flash's and the symbiote's part in order to buy time for their allies to arrive and to obtain intel on Mercurio's armada. However, the brief period of time the symbiote spent bonded to him undid its cleansing. Lee Price In search of a new host after being seperated from Flash Thompson, the symbiote came across former Army Ranger Lee Price when he was about to be gunned down in a shootout between Tombstone's gang and Black Cat's gang. It bonded to him to protect him and was initially excited to discover he was a soldier, but was quickly horrified when he dominated it with his will and proceeded to massacre both groups of gangs, forcing the memories of his traumatic childhood on it to shut it up when it protested. The symbiote subsequently engaged in a mental argument with Lee, berating him over his actions and callous attitude while accidentally revealing its own sanguine past. Unable to directly control Lee due to his Army Rangers training, the symbiote resigned itself to being bonded to him, but attempted to sabotage his application to Black Cat's gang by causing him to vomit, and tried to refuse to aid him in fighting off the assassin sent by Tombstone to kill him. Personality While it initially did not act independently of its host, the Venom symbiote is a fully sentient being with its own personality. The symbiote's disastrous bonding with its first host, who used it to carry out a genocide against his homeworld, left it corrupted and addicted to rage. Despite this, the symbiote desired to protect and help its hosts, often by transforming them into predators. This desire to "play super hero" led to its imprisonment by other corrupt Klyntar. Prior to its cleansing, the symbiote considered Peter Parker to be its ideal host, and through bonding with him it developed a basic understanding of human emotions. The heartbreak of Peter's rejection, coupled with the danger it found itself in soon afterward, filled the symbiote with rage towards Spider-Man. This hatred transformed the desire it still felt for him into a vengeful obsession with either rebonding to or killing him, and was an emotion it shared with its third and fifth human hosts, Eddie Brock and Mac Gargan. In spite of considering him to be an inferior host, prior to Eddie bonding to the Toxin symbiote, the Venom symbiote displayed a similar kill-or-reclaim attitude towards him as it did towards Spider-Man. As its corruption worsened, the symbiote became arrogant, scornful, and sadistic; berating its hosts for their shortcomings: it openly considered Eddie Brock to be a second-rate host compared to Peter Parker; deemed Angelo Fortunato an unworthy host for not possessing enough "venom", leaving him to fall to his death; berated Mac Gargan over his reluctance to give in to its bloodlust; and repeatedly criticized Flash Thompson for suppressing it with chemicals. It possessed an instinctual hatred towards its progeny Carnage and Toxin, stating at one point that familial love was anathema to their kind. Despite this, it has been noted that the symbiote is incapable of lying, and as such is brutally honest when permitted to talk. The symbiote also became increasingly bloodthirsty, twice abandoning Eddie Brock when he refused to satiate its growing hunger for human flesh. When bonded to Mac Gargan, the symbiote's bloodlust grew so intense that its host was initially terrified of its influence over him, and was ultimately driven to willingly commit cannibalism to satiate its ravenous hunger. Before the symbiote was cleansed, Flash Thompson had to take drugs to suppress it, but it would frequently undermine his control and rampage. The Venom symbiote has a habit of abandoning its current host to return to a prior one or to seek out a stronger one: attempting to abandon Eddie Brock on several occasions to return to Spider-Man; seeking to leave Mac Gargan and Flash Thompson to return to Eddie Brock once his cancer was cured; and returning to Spider-Man once separated from Flash Thompson. The symbiote also once attempted to leave Flash and bond to Kaine, though Flash prevented it from doing so through sheer force of will. For unknown reasons, the Venom symbiote bargained with Mephisto to obtain a Hell Mark, and seized control of Flash in an attempt to merge with Zarathos. Following Flash being possessed by a demon, he wondered if the symbiote was co-operating with the demon to overcome their respective handicaps, but ultimately the symbiote expelled the demon into its clone to prevent it from taking them over. The symbiote deeply resented Flash's use of drugs to suppress it, berating him in a mental conversation and lashing out at him when bonded to Otto Octavius. After being reconnected to the Klyntar hive mind, the symbiote's memories were purged in order to cleanse it of its bloodlust. Following this, the Venom symbiote was repentant, docile, and subservient to Flash, who expressed concern that his own hot-headedness could have adverse affects on it. Speaking independently, the symbiote admits to preferring Flash as a host, and that while it now possesses the ability to operate without a host it prefers being bonded to him, calling him its partner and friend. However, following the symbiote briefly bonding to Mercurio, it began to relapse back into its bloodthirsty, hate-filled state. While it initially revelled in being restored to its old self and attempted to corrupt Flash, after being put on trial by the Agents of the Cosmos the Venom symbiote managed to suppress its rage with Flash's help. In a mental conversation with Spider-Man, the symbiote admitted it is addicted to rage as a result of its first host, and expressed genuine remorse for everything it had done to Spider-Man. When Venom reabsorbed Mania and took the elixir that would revert its corruption, it became finally pure, although it was revealed that the effects were only temporary and could not prevent the Hell-Mark from re-corrupting its clone. After being separated from Flash, the Venom symbiote bonded to a former Army Ranger named Lee Price. It was initially overjoyed to be bonded to another soldier, but was subsequently horrified when Lee used it to slaughter the members of Tombstone's and Black Cat's gangs present at a botched arms deal. Revolted by Lee's callousness and casual attitude towards murder, the symbiote berated and threatened Lee in an attempt to intimidate him, and even attempted to take over him, but was suppressed by his army training. Unable to control him directly, it resigned itself to being bonded to him but was still able to influence his autonomous nervous system in order to sabotage his application to join Black Cat's gang - having somehow regained its memories of its former hosts and recognized Mac Gargan. Given its unwillingness to commit acts of violence, it has attempted to refuse to help Lee if he intends to use it to hurt or kill people. However, it is in desperate need of a host and thus forced to compromise, and is unable to stop Lee from abusing its power. | Powers = Even without a host, the Symbiote is capable of freely extending its biomass into tentacles and tendrils, and can form a fanged mouth and large white eyespots. When bonded to a host, it can shapeshift to mimic any type of clothing whatsoever, as well as blending Venom in with his surroundings, rendering him invisible. The Symbiote has augmented all of its host's physical abilities to superhuman levels equal to, and in some cases greater than, Spider-Man's. In addition, as a result of the access it had to Peter Parker's genetic code when bonded to him, it bestows its host with similar abilities. Venom (1st Incarnation): The third human individual to bond with the symbiote was Edward Brock. Naturally the symbiote chose to endow Eddie with most of the powers Spider-Man had, but the symbiote via Brock's innovative mentality managed to create some new powers and even mutate over time. :*'Superhuman Strength': Before he came into contact with the costume, Brock had conditioned himself to lift (press) 700 lb.Spider-Man: Brand New Day Yearbook - 2008 Once they merged, the costume added Spider-Man’s superhuman strength to Brock’s vast human strength, making him more powerful than Spider-Man. However, his full strength often fluctuates. Venom has demonstrated strength ranging from only slightly greater than Spider-Man's to being capable of trading blows with high-powered individuals such as Juggernaut. This is caused by the several mutations that the symbiote took with Brock, gaining additional bulk and muscle mass over long periods of time with its host. :*'Superhuman Durability': Venom's body is highly resistant to physical injury, capable of withstanding assault from high-caliber bullets as well as attacks from super powered individuals. When distributed at a typical thickness over Brock's body, the Symbiote is capable of absorbing bullets from small-arms weapons firing conventional ammunition. The Symbiote is however particularly vulnerable to both sonic and heat-based attacks. :*'Superhuman Stamina': Venom is also capable of surviving in harmful areas for long periods of time such as underwater or in toxic gases, the symbiote filtering breathable air to the host. :*'Accelerated Healing Factor': Additionally, the symbiote is capable of healing injuries in the host at a faster rate than normal human healing allows. The symbiote is also capable of healing injuries and illnesses that current human medical care cannot such as cancer. The symbiote has enabled its host to recover from injuries that should have been lethal, such as Mac Gargan having most of his abdomen vaporized by the Swordsman's Makluan Sword; and Flash Thompson being impaled by Toxin's blade-arm, and having his head sliced in half by Jack O'Lantern V's scythe. :*'Genetic Memory': The symbiote possesses some psychic ability, making it capable of obtaining information from its hosts and even other people and symbiotes simply by touch; The symbiote is capable of recalling information from previous hosts. This ability allowed Eddie Brock to know the secret identity of Spider-Man when the symbiote bonded with him. It can however, be forced to forget information if the symbiote is inflicted with heavy trauma. :*'Offspring Detection': The symbiote is also capable of psychically detecting its offspring, however with effort this ability can be blocked. :*'Wall-Crawling': The alien costume also replicates Spider-Man’s ability to cling to walls by controlling the flux of inter-atomic attraction between molecular boundary layers. :*'Webbing Generation': Venom can shoot strands of the alien’s substance in the form of "webbing" at high pressure up to a distance of 70 feet. The alien’s substance seems to be composed of tough, flexible fibers of organic polymers, which regenerate swiftly after "shedding." The strands have extraordinary adhesive properties, which diminish rapidly once they abandon their living source. After about three hours, with no source to nourish them, the strands dry up like dead skin and dissolve into a powder. The strands possess a tensile strength of 125 pounds per square millimeter of cross section. The one limitation to this ability was used to Spider-Man's advantage during their second bout; Since the webbing itself comprises the costume, if Venom generates too much he will be left vulnerable as the symbiote is weakened and unable to replenish his lost mass for a short period of time. In addition to creating webbing, Brock can use the symbiote in the form of tentacles or tendrils to attack or ensnare his opponents. :*'Constituent-Matter Generation': Venom can also use the same substance comprising the symbiote in the form of constituent black matter or goo, and uses it in this method for lethal force against criminals. Venom can send a part of the symbiote and direct its movements into a victim's body, smothering them from the inside. :*'ESP (Spider-Sense)': Venom also possesses an extrasensory ability similar to Spider-Man’s spider-sense. This response is not as complicated as Spider-Man’s inherent sense since the alien costume can detect danger from every direction and conduct Brock in plenty of time. It's a lot more efficient than Spider-Man’s spider-sense because it takes less time to sense the danger, and Brock’s reflexes are faster than Spider-Man’s, because they are enhanced by the alien costume for instance Venom can dodge a gunshot or a barrage of bullets. It should be noted that as Ben Reilly was cloned from Peter before he bonded with Venom, Eddie was not immune to his spider sense. :*'Immunity to Spider-Man's Spider Sense': Due to Spider-Man being a host to the symbiote, Venom, and his offspring, is able to bypass Spider-Man's spider-sense. Venom is capable of attacking Spider-Man without alerting him, making Venom a deadly foe. :*'Camouflage Capabilities': The symbiote is capable of mimicking the appearance of any form of clothing, camouflaging with its surroundings, and even mimicking other people. Brock's preferred form of clothing was a black shirt, jacket and pants. :*'Poisonous Fangs': An ability developed by Eddie Brock upon bonding with the symbiote. Originally he commanded the symbiote to sprout a maniacal grin and tongue, differentiating him from Spider-Man. Later it is revealed that this set of fangs not only intimidates foes but can deliver a powerful, venomous bite (true to Brock's namesake). This bite was able to cripple the Sandman, eventually leaving the villain turned hero unable to reform himself properly, presumably causing his death.Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide (Hardcover) page 151 :*'Stretching and deforming': Although it's wide known that the Symbiote can stretch and deform itself, recently it was able to perform this ability during bonded with a human host. Venom can expand to any size as long as they have something to grow on such as a host or an object. Symbiotes can get inside of small areas such as electric wires and the insides of cars and completely disable them. :*'Power Mimicry/Absorption': The symbiote can steal the powers and abilities of other beings. It has been recently discovered, that the symbiote can recall and mimic the powers and abilities of previous hosts. Venom has also adapted the spider powers from Spider-Man. :*'Shapeshifting': The Symbiote allows the user shape-shifting abilities. Venom can mimic clothing, and completely change its appearance and stature. Venom (Third Incarnation): As Venom and the "Sinister" Spider-Man, Mac Gargan displayed the above powers as well as a few new ones. :*'Constituent-Matter Manipulation': The Venom Symbiote first used this ability to grow a tail for Mac Gargan, emulating his appearance as the Scorpion. When bonded to Flash Thompson, the Venom symbiote developed the ability to morph sections of his body, such as his hands or feet, into spikes, blades, axes or a shield. Venom (Fourth Incarnation): After the US military bonded the symbiote to Flash Thompson as the fourth host of the symbiote, it displayed all of the above abilities as well as developing a few new ones as a result of being connected to the Klyntar hive mind. :*'Hive Mind': After being purged of its bloodlust, the symbiote gained access to the Klyntar hive mind, enabling it to communicate with the symbiotes on their homeworld and access information about the species' past. :*'Cosmos Communion': As a cleansed Klyntar, the Venom symbiote is able to hear the "voice" of the Cosmos telling it of people in need of assistance. :*'Humanoid Form': Since being cleansed, the symbiote has developed the ability to take on a humanoid form independently of being bonded to its host, for a maximum duration of twelve Earth hours. | Abilities = | Strength = The symbiote has enabled its hosts to lift up to 70 tons in their regular size, this is not their true limit as their strength increases with their variable muscle mass. | Weaknesses = The Symbiote is extremely sensitive to sonic and thermal attacks, making it vulnerable, although the degree of sensitivity has varied over time and the symbiote has built up a resistance. Samuel Sterns mentioned that symbiotes also have a weakness to magnesium. However, this is not known by many people and is likely an extension to its intolerance of heat. However, this turned out to be false as it had no effect on Venom, and he reveals he acquired this information from Wikipedia. | Equipment = None | Transportation = None | Weapons = None | Notes = * A notable aspect of the Venom symbiote in its portrayal in the show Spider-Man: The Animated Series, the comic series Ultimate Spider-Man and the film Spider-Man 3 is that it caused its host to bring out their most agressive and violent side. In the comics, this aspect of the symbiote originally didn't exist. * The Symbiote shares similar aspects with the Xenomorphs from the cinematic franchise Aliens. Both species need a host, are able to walk on walls, and it can become increasingly powerful depending on their host. | Trivia = * The idea of the black suited Spider-Man was originally conceived of by a Marvel Comics reader from Norridge, Illinois named Randy Schueller. * The idea of a self-healing alien costume was originally conceived by John Byrne for Iron Fist. However, Iron Fist merged into Power Man and Iron Fist, and Byrne left the book with his collaborator Chris Claremont not long after that. When Roger Stern introuced Spider-Man's black suit spinning out of Secret Wars years later, he asked Byrne, with whom he was friends, permission to use his idea of the sentient costume. | Links = }} Category:Fangs Category:Prehensile Tongue Category:Tentacles Category:White Eyes Category:Twins Category:Venom Family Category:Organic Webbing Category:Demonic Form Category:Single Characters Category:Spider-Man Equipment Category:Otto Octavius Equipment Category:Secret Wars (1984) participants Category:Symbiotes Category:Suits Category:Secret Wars (1984) casualties Category:Killed by Doctor Doom Category:Shapeshifters Category:Superhuman Strength Category:Superhuman Durability Category:Superhuman Stamina Category:Regeneration Category:Healers Category:Wallcrawling Category:Stretching Category:Power Mimicry Category:Multiple Mouths Category:Liquid Form